13 February 2020

Two thirds of cyber attacks are purposeful

Positive Technologies has released a comprehensive report, "Current Cyber ​​Threats: Q3, 2019," which details the security situation on the World Wide Web.

Experts see a further increase in number of targeted attacks (APT): they now account for two-thirds (65%) of the total number of cyber-attacks. For comparison, in the second quarter of this year, the figure was 59%.

"Organizations around the world are at risk of complex targeted attacks. Government agencies, industrial companies, the financial sector and science and education organizations are of the greatest interest to attackers, ”the report said.

Another trend of the last quarter is the increase in the number of cyber attacks aimed at stealing information. Their share in the corporate segment rose from 58% to 61% within three months. In the segment of private users, the growth was more significant - from 55% to 64%.

The share of financially motivated attacks for legal entities and individuals equaled 31%. Such attacks in the corporate segment are mainly related to encrypted Trojan infections, which require ransom to recover encrypted data. In attacks on individuals, cybercriminals seek financial gain by distributing compulsive advertising and mobile applications that subscribe to paid services.

At the same time, experts from Positive Technologies noted a decrease in the share of attacks with the use of cryptocurrency miners - up to 3% in the case of organizations and up to 2% in the case of individuals.

It also says that three-quarters of attacks in the corporate segment and 62% of attacks among ordinary users were accompanied by infections of various kinds of pests.